Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Use Only As Directed

Before we go any further with this post, listen to this brief radio ad from the '80s...No, it's not some tasteless joke. As I'm sure some of you remember, there really was a diet candy called AYDS. I used to see it on the shelves - my friends and I would snicker about it. But it was actually kind of sad: due to it's unintentional association with the disease A.I.D.S. the once-successful product saw its sales plunge by as much as 50 percent. By the '90s it was off the market. Hey radio DJs - drop this between songs, and watch the phones light up!

1 comment:

TheBobo
said...

Many people look at me funny when I tell them there was a diet plan called AYDS back in the 80's. I remember seeing it disapear quite quicly when the disease AIDS became a household word around 1984.I also remember the commercials but never knew it was that ironic in its wording. If folks don't remember the diet candy they would assume the whole thing was a sick joke/skit you might hear on Howard Stern. I am suprised no one has brought this to the attention of Snopes (the urban legend site).

I feel sorry for the ad guy who wrote those commercials. Naming a product of a future disease that would affect it's victims,among many other factors,by rapid weight loss.This would be as strange as a presidential hopeful having the same middle name as ruthless dictator.